Tamil hamlet Sinhalicised in Vavuniyaa: Sivasakthi Ananthan

The colonial governor of North, Major General (retd) G.A. Chandrasri, together with a SL military officer in Vavuniyaa and a Buddhist monk, has appropriated the lands of ancient Tamil village, I’rampai-veddik-ku’lam in Vavuniyaa and carved out a Sinhala colony with a Sinhala name ‘Agbo-pura’. The ceremonious declaration of Agbopura has taken place on August 30, Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian from Vavuniyaa Sivasakthi Ananthan told media on Thursday.

The SL colonial governor has distributed the lands to 80 Sinhala families from Vavuniyaa district in the appropriated lands.

225 more Sinhala families are to be brought and settled in the new colony as part of the ongoing demographic change in the Vavuniyaa district, the parliamentarian further said.

Tamil villagers from the nearby villages have been using the lands for their livelihood and the ancient Tamil hamlet was the home for displaced Tamils who were chased away from their houses in South during the 1977 pogrom against Tamils.

The village has now been entirely Sinhalicised by Colombo’s occupying SL military, Buddhist monk and the colonial governor.

Mr Sivasakthi Ananthan also blamed the SL Governor for violating the rules that there should be no land distribution from the government during the election campaign.

A feature to be noted here by the civilised world is the Sinhalicisation of a nature-related Tamil place name into an ethno-nationalist Sinhala name, social activists in Vanni said.

I’rampai-vedduk-ku’lam means the tank where I’rampai leaves used in curry are cut. The name was based on human-environment relationship of the Tamils who have been living there for ages. Agbo-pura means the town of Agbo, a Sinhala Buddhist king of the distant past.